About a dozen relatives of murder victims spoke Wednesday in federal court, but the hearing ended without Bulger speaking. Prosecutors called him a sociopath and asked Judge Denise Casper to sentence him to life in prison.

Casper is expected to announce the sentence Thursday.

Bulger, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, stared down at the defense table and mostly did not look at the relatives as they spoke. Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said he would not make a sentencing recommendation because Bulger believed his trial was a sham.

Bulger, now 84, was convicted in August in a broad indictment that included racketeering charges in a string of murders in the 1970s and '80s, as well as extortion, money-laundering and weapons charges.